Murray State University Athletics
Photo by: Murray State Sports Information
Former Quarterback Gene McDonald Passes Away
4/20/2011 11:26:44 AM | Football
Gene McDonald is the father of head baseball coach Rob McDonald
The Murray State athletic family suffered a loss Saturday evening as former captain and starting quarterback Gene McDonald passed away Saturday evening in Lincoln, Ill. Gene is the father of current baseball coach Rob McDonald.
Services will be Thursday April 21, at 10:30 a.m., at Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Lincoln, Ill. Visitation will be Wednesday from 4-7 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will be in New Union Cemetery, Lincoln. In Lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Lincoln Community High School Weight Room fund.
Gene McDonald helped lead the Racers to three Ohio Valley Conference championships. His freshman class is the only class in school history to leave campus with three OVC football championships. As a senior captain in 1951, McDonald quarterbacked the Racers to an 8-1 record and their second-straight title.
After leaving MSU, McDonald served 40 months in the U.S. Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant. He also served as a physical training instructor at U.S. Naval Pre-Flight School at Pensacola, Fla.
Gene McDonald then turned to coaching as he served as a graduate assistant at Illinois in 1956-57, before becoming a physical education teacher and assistant football coach at Lincoln Community High School the following year. McDonald took over as the head coach and went 88-84, leading his team to a pair of Big 12 Conference championships.
He later served 23 years as the athletics director at LCHS, and was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame on April 3, 1982.
Gene is survived by his wife, Billy Jean, who was voted Ms. Murray State during her time as a student at MSU.
Services will be Thursday April 21, at 10:30 a.m., at Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Lincoln, Ill. Visitation will be Wednesday from 4-7 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will be in New Union Cemetery, Lincoln. In Lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Lincoln Community High School Weight Room fund.
Gene McDonald helped lead the Racers to three Ohio Valley Conference championships. His freshman class is the only class in school history to leave campus with three OVC football championships. As a senior captain in 1951, McDonald quarterbacked the Racers to an 8-1 record and their second-straight title.
After leaving MSU, McDonald served 40 months in the U.S. Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant. He also served as a physical training instructor at U.S. Naval Pre-Flight School at Pensacola, Fla.
Gene McDonald then turned to coaching as he served as a graduate assistant at Illinois in 1956-57, before becoming a physical education teacher and assistant football coach at Lincoln Community High School the following year. McDonald took over as the head coach and went 88-84, leading his team to a pair of Big 12 Conference championships.
He later served 23 years as the athletics director at LCHS, and was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame on April 3, 1982.
Gene is survived by his wife, Billy Jean, who was voted Ms. Murray State during her time as a student at MSU.
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